It seems Apple’s WWDC 2025 event will be the one to be remembered for a long time. That’s not because of the usual feature announcements but because of the major change in the company’s naming scheme. Last week, Mark Gurman reported that Apple will release iOS 26 at this year’s WWDC and not iOS 19. Similarly, there will be iPadOS 26, macOS 26, tvOS 26, visionOS 26, and watchOS 26. Speaking of macOS 26, Gurman now says that Apple will name it after Lake Tahoe.
macOS 26 will pick its name from the famous Lake Tahoe
In his latest Power On newsletter, Mark Gurman claims that Apple will name the macOS’ next iteration “macOS Tahoe.” For the uninitiated, Apple picked this name from Lake Tahoe, located between California and Nevada in the United States.
Talking about macOS 26’s moniker in the newsletter, Gurman notes, “I’m told that the company has homed in on Lake Tahoe as its next moniker, making it macOS Tahoe. It’s a famous resort area and a vacation destination (and second-home site) for many Apple employees.”
It’s worth noting that Lake Tahoe is popular for its reflective waters. You can see the lake mirroring the surrounding landscapes, such as mountains and the sky. This is why Gurman says that the “Tahoe” moniker would align with macOS 26’s rumored glass-like design, featuring translucent buttons, icons, and windows.
Well, this isn’t the first time Apple has named macOS differently. Previously, the company used names of big cats like Cheetah, Tiger, Leopard, and Lion. However, the company moved on from that naming scheme starting with OS X Mavericks in 2013.
Previous California-themed monikers
In the past few years, we’ve seen the tech giant adopt California-themed names for macOS, such as Sequoia, Sonoma, Monterey, and Yosemite. Moreover, if you’re hoping to hear about new Apple Intelligence features, there will be little to no updates about them during the WWDC keynote.
